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A convoy of US armored vehicles near the village of Yalanli, in Manbij, on March 5.

The U.S. and Russia have found themselves teaming up for the first time in the war in Syria -- against a country both call an ally: Turkey.

In Manbij, a town in northern Syria about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Turkish border, U.S. and Russia moved this week to effectively block a drive by Turkey to seize it.A U.S. deployment and a Russian-brokered deal with Syrian forces created buffer zones that headed off any Turkish drive against the Kurdish forces -- seen by Washington as key allies against Islamic State, though Turkey views them as terrorists -- who now hold the town.

As the outside powers fighting in Syria step up the fight to crush Islamic State, the battle is laying bare their often-conflicting loyalties. With all sides pushing into terrorist-held territory, the potential for clashes between the players is rising.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is at the center of this thanks to his military campaign, but he must keep allies like Syria and Iran on side even as tries to cooperate with the U.S. and Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes to Moscow on Thursday with his defense minister for talks with Putin.

This is a unique circumstance when the U.S. and Russia have found themselves thrown together against Turkey because of the Kurds, who are directly sponsored by Washington and get Russian support too, said Alexander Shumilin, head of the Middle East Conflict Center at the Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies, a government-run research group in Moscow.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country was seeking a trilateral mechanism to clear the area of terrorist groups. In Manbij, the U.S. is raising a flag, Russia is raising a flag nearby, things have turned into a flag competition, Yildirim said in an interview with ATV television.

Later on Tuesday, Yildirim said countries operating in Syria must coordinate their actions to eliminate all terrorist groups.

Turkey told its counterparts that no terror group can be destroyed by using another terror group, he said in Ankara. If coordination cant be established, then there could be a risk of confrontation, which we do not wish for.

The standoff has emerged as Russia has taken the diplomatic lead in seeking to resolve the war in Syria after its air campaign that started in 2015 succeeded in bolstering President Bashar al-Assad.

Under pressure in Washington over allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election, U.S. President Donald Trump has backed off his campaign pledge to cooperate on fighting terrorism in Syria with Putin. Still, last month U.S. warplanes helped indirectly in the Russian-backed Syrian offensive to recapture the historic city of Palmyra, carrying out 23 strikes over nine days, as much as during the rest of February. Now, faced with Turkey, the two powers appear to have taken a tactical joint stance.

In a bid to lower the tensions, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Turkeys Chief of the General Staff Hulusi Akar met in the southern Turkish city of Antalya on Tuesday.

It is a measure of the success that forces are having in countering the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that the conversation is necessary, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement. It noted that areas like Manbij have become a crowded battlespace and the proximity of the various forces had created a dangerous situation.

Turkey sent troops across the border into Syria in August, backing Free Syrian Army rebels in battles against Islamic State. The army has also clashed with Kurdish groups that the government in Ankara regards as terrorist organizations with links to separatists in Turkey, and which took control of Manbij after expelling Islamic State from the town just before the Turkish incursion.

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Turkey has sought the support of the U.S., its NATO ally, to lead a ground offensive against Islamic States main Syrian stronghold of Raqqa that would advance through areas controlled by Kurdish fighters, a Turkish official said last week. But the U.S. views the Kurds as an essential element of the battle against the radical Sunni group thats waged a global campaign of terrorist attacks from its self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

Full-scale hostilities between the Turks and Kurds would pose a major setback for efforts to capture Raqqa, according to Joshua Landis, head of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Its important to get a buffer between the Turks and Kurds so ISIS can be beaten, he said.

The U.S. has moved 500 soldiers to the outskirts of Manbij, according to Ilnur Cevik, chief adviser to Erdogan. The U.S.-led coalition has taken this deliberate action to reassure coalition members and partner forces, deter aggression and keep the focus on defeating ISIS, spokesman Col. John Dorrian said on Twitter.

The U.S. and Russian moves leave Turkey with no more room to maneuver, said Faysal Itani, an analyst with the Atlantic Council in Washington. That will enable a Kurdish-led operation to capture Raqqa and the Syrian government to deploy its forces too in the area, he said.

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US, Russia Counter Erdogan in Syria as Kurds Get Shield - Bloomberg

BERLIN The leader of Germany's Turkish community on Monday accused President Tayyip Erdogan of damaging ties between the two NATO allies by likening bans on political rallies by Turks in Germany to "fascist actions" reminiscent of Nazi times.

Erdogan's comments on Sunday have further soured relations as public outrage in Germany mounts over Turkey's arrest a week ago of Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yucel.

"Erdogan went a step too far. Germany should not sink to his level," Gokay Sofuoglu, chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany, which groups 270 member organizations, told Reuters.

He said the comments could harm bilateral ties and were exacerbating long-simmering tensions within the community of about 3 million people of Turkish background in Germany.

Sofuoglu said he had talked to police after receiving messages accusing him of being a "terrorist" because of his criticism of Erdogan and of a coming referendum to expand the powers of the Turkish presidency.

But he urged authorities not to ban Erdogan or other Turkish politicians from Germany, saying it was important to set a positive example and preserve rights to freedom of expression.

Two German towns last week canceled political rallies at which Turkish ministers had hoped to drum up support for a "Yes" vote in the April 16 referendum.

An estimated 1.5 million Turkish citizens living in Germany are eligible to vote in the poll, making them one of the largest constituencies outside Turkish cities like Istanbul.

German chancellor Angela Merkel insists the rallies were canceled by the local authorities for security reasons and that federal officials were not involved.

German politicians continued to react with shock and anger to Erdogan's comments on Monday, with many demanding an immediate apology.

"Such accusations are absolutely unacceptable," Merkel's chief of staff Peter Altmaier told German broadcaster ARD, in the chancellery's first comments since Erdogan's latest salvo.

Altmaier said Germany valued freedom of expression and would not prevent appearances by Turkish politicians, but that such speeches should respect "legal boundaries and existing law".

He said Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel would address the meaning of the latest events with Ankara, as well as Germany's demand that Turkey free Yucel, whom Erdogan says is a "German agent" and a member of an armed Kurdish militant group.

A source in Germany's foreign ministry told Reuters on Friday those accusations were "absurd".

Gabriel, who is due to meet Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Berlin on Wednesday, told reporters in Brussels: "The relationship is clearly strained and it is our responsibility to normalize it."

(Reporting by Gernot Heller, Andrea Shalal, Georg Merziger in Berlin and Tom Koerkemeier in Brussels; Editing by Catherine Evans)

KABUL Gunmen dressed as doctors attacked a military hospital close to the U.S. embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday and were engaging security forces inside the building, officials and witnesses said.

BEIRUT A U.S. Navy ship changed course in the Hormuz Strait on Saturday toward Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels, a guards commander was quoted as saying on Tuesday while issuing a warning.

SEOUL A man claiming to be the son of the slain, estranged half brother of North Korea's leader said he was lying low with his mother and sister, in a video posted online by a group that said it helped rescue them following the murder a month ago.

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Germany's Turkish community say Erdogan went too far with Nazi comments - Reuters

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Donald Trump, Franois Fillon, Erdogan: Your Tuesday Briefing New York Times Officials said the rewrite was meant to address legal concerns quickly to deal with what they say is a national security threat. But in the Middle East, it is still seen as amounting to a ban on Muslims. Separately, the White House said Mr. Trump ... and more »

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Donald Trump, Franois Fillon, Erdogan: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times

A senior aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel hit back at Turkeys government, saying Germany doesnt need lessons in democracy after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened the cancellation of rallies by two of his cabinet ministers to Nazi practices.

Peter Altmaier, Merkels chief of staff, called the comment absolutely unacceptable as tension escalates in a relationship already strained over Turkeys human rights record after a failed coup to topple Erdogan in July. Volker Kauder, Merkels top lieutenant in the German parliament, linked the surge in tension to Erdogans campaign to expand his powers in a referendum planned in April.

Nobody can outdo Germany in terms of rule of law, tolerance and liberalism, Altmaier said in an interview with broadcaster ARD on Monday. Theres no reason whatsoever for us to accept such accusations or advice from anybody.

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Erdogan lashed out in Istanbul on Sunday after local authorities in two municipalities canceled campaign events by his ministers in the buildup to the referendum. In comments widely reported in Germany, Erdogan said the decisions have nothing to do with democracy and that recent practices in Germany are no different from the Nazi ones of the past. An estimated 1.4 million Turkish voters live in Germany.

The flareup risks further straining Turkeys relations with the entire European Union as EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday. The Ankara government has jailed a German-Turkish reporter whom Erdogan described as a spy, and is pressing Germany to extradite fugitive Turkish military officers involved in the coup attempt.

The town of Gaggenau in southwestern Germany triggered the turmoil last week by revoking its permission for Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag to hold a campaign rally, citing concerns of overcrowding. In Cologne, authorities canceled Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekcis planned address on Sunday to a Turkish community, citing security concerns.

Merkel last week condemned the jailing of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, 43, as bitter and disappointing, saying the charges of terrorist propaganda threatened press freedom in Turkey. Kauder also condemned Erdogans comparison with the Nazi era.

Its an incredible and unacceptable turn of events that a leader of a NATO country talks this way about another NATO country, especially one who has considerable problems with the rule of law, the head of Merkels Christian Democrat-led caucus told ARD on Sunday.

For all the criticism by German leaders, Turkey and the EU have shared interests beyond trade.

Erdogan and the EU last March forged a deal to stem the flow of refugees entering Greece via the Aegean, with Turkey agreeing to take back people turned away. The uneasy accord that helped ease the trade blocs refugee crisis is unlikely to be upended by Erdogan amid new tensions with Germany, according to its Austrian partner.

The EU is a critical trade partner for Turkey, taking 47 percent of its exports in January. Germany was the No. 1 export destination for Turkish goods, accounting for 10 percent, according to Turkeys statistics agency.

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Erdogan's Nazi Comparison Draws Fire From Merkel Chief of ...

KABUL Afghanistan has ordered a network of schools run by an organization regarded with suspicion by the Turkish government to be transferred to a foundation approved by Ankara, Afghan officials said.

The move against Afghan Turk CAG Educational NGO (ATCE), the body that runs the schools, appears to be part of Turkey's campaign against followers of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric it accuses of being behind a coup attempt in July.

ATCE, which says it is an independent organization, runs schools in several cities including the capital, Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar and Herat and has been in Afghanistan since 1995.

Acting Education Minister Shafiq Samim said the Turkish government had asked for the schools to be placed under the management of a so-called "Vakif", a Turkish educational and charitable foundation.

He said there would be a "gradual transition" of staff but the government would not expel any of the schools' Turkish teachers.

"Turkish teachers are our guests and there has not been any decision to expel them," he told a news conference on Saturday, adding that the schools would continue to operate.

ATCE Chairman Numan Erdogan said his organization had not yet received any government notification, and would challenge any decision to take away management of the schools.

"We have nothing to do with developments in Turkey, none of our teachers is implicated and any allegations against us about that are baseless," he said.

Last year, shortly before a visit to Islamabad by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistan ordered Turkish teachers at schools run by a body called PakTurk International Schools and Colleges to leave the country.

Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan who nows lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, promotes a moderate form of Islam, supporting inter-faith communication and Western-style education and inspiring schools in different parts of the world.

In the wake of July's attempted coup, the Turkish president branded him a "terrorist" and pressed other countries to move against him and his supporters.

Turkey has donated around $1 billion in development aid to Afghanistan since 2004, according to the ministry of foreign affairs and is one of the country's most important economic partners, with ethnic and cultural links in the north.

It also provides more than 500 troops to the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni and James Mackenzie; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

AMMAN Syrian government forces have taken over positions from a U.S.-backed militia in the northern city of Manbij on part of a frontline with Turkish-backed rebel forces, in line with a deal brokered by Russia, the militia's spokesman said on Monday.

WASHINGTON Multiple fast-attack vessels from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps came close to a U.S. Navy ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, forcing it to change direction, a U.S. official told Reuters on Monday.

PARIS/BORDEAUX Francois Fillon fought off a rebellion that had threatened to end his candidacy for the French presidency on Monday as party leaders swung behind the center-right former prime minister despite allegations that he had misused public funds.

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Afghanistan moves against Turkish schools linked to Erdogan foe - Reuters